WFP Assists Tunisia’s Government In School Feeding

TUNIS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will provide technical support to the Government of the Tunisian Republic in building its capacity in managing and implementing the national school feeding programme.

WPF and the Government of the Tunisian Republic represented by the Ministry of Education signed on Friday a Memorandum of Understanding marking the beginning of this partnership after an initial request from the government. The Director of Primary Education of the Ministry of Education of Tunisia Mr. Kamel Hajjam represented the Tunisian government, WFP was represented by its Deputy Regional Director Carlo Scaramella (represented by Carlo Scaramella, WFP Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and Northern Africa.

“It is important to stress that providing sufficient nutrition to all schoolchildren in Tunisia is not a luxury. Rather it is a necessity towards nurturing a healthy new generation of citizens who will be at the heart of building the country’s future,” Scaramella said.

Tunisia’s school meals will be implemented in all public primary schools across the country. It will provide improved access to education for children from the poorest households and ensures the reduction of dropout rates. WFP will work with the government on strengthening the national school feeding programme and will help monitor the implementation of the project, taking into account national priorities for health and child nutrition.

School meals act as safety nets for poor households, helping families to educate their children and ensure food security in times of crisis. WFP will share its knowledge and expertise in school feeding through the WFP Centre of Excellence Against Hunger in Brazil and will also share best practices from countries in the Middle East and North Africa where it has been successfully implementing school feeding programmes.
The Russian Federation is funding the project for a period of 13months contributing US$1.5 million

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WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Last year, WFP reached more than 97 million people in 80 countries with food assistance.